Soccer contact can lead to concussion
DEAR DOCTOR: My husband, who plays in a weekend soccer league, is troubled by some new reports he has read that suggest that soccer might be as dangerous as football. Can you explain the studies?
DEAR READER: Your husband may be referring to a pair of studies published in February that examined the potential risks of heading the ball, a common move in soccer. One study, conducted at a British university, found signs of brain damage in a group of professional soccer players, all of whom had decades-long careers. The other study, published by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, focused on amateur players. The study found an increased risk of concussion both from heading the ball and from accidental contact during a game.
The British study examined 14 retired soccer players with dementia. The men, skilled at heading the ball, played an average of 26 years each. When the brain tissue of six of the players was examined after their death, researchers found signs of trauma.
In four of the six brains, this included chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative disease also found in professional boxers, football players and hockey players. Although the small sample size of the British study kept researchers from drawing conclusions, they agreed the results reveal the need for large-scale studies.
In the American study, researchers followed 222 amateur soccer players, both men and women. Players reported how often they headed the ball, as well as any accidental blows to the head during play. They also rated the severity of symptoms like headache, dizziness, altered vision, weakness or confusion, which can indicate concussion.
The researchers concluded that while heading the ball increased a player’s risk of concussive impact, accidental contact, like an elbow to the head or colliding with another player, was even more common.
The question is whether the effect of all those headers on the delicate structures of the brain can be cumulative. For the authors of the American study, the answer was yes.
Eve Glazier, M.D., MBA, is an internist and assistant professor of medicine at UCLA Health.